David Heffernan was goofing around with some buddies in the audience during the presentation of the Silver Knight award for athletics in 1980. The Columbus High senior didn't think he had a chance to win.

Then he realized the speaker was talking about him.

"I think I said something like 'Holy crap!' But you can't print exactly what I said,'' he joked during a recent interview at his Dadeland law office. "I never thought I could win.''

Heffernan has won a few and lost a few since then and he has maintained that sense of humor about his life stats.

He was an offensive tackle at the University of Miami -- he still wears a championship ring from 1983, his junior year. His senior year he was captain of the team and pictured in Sports Illustrated as a member of UM's ''Melting Pot'' offensive line -- a Cuban, a Canadian, an African American and Heffernan.

''We used to make calls in Spanish,'' he recalled. 'When you're playing Nebraska or West Virginia and you're saying `A la izquierda,' they're like 'Whhhaat?' ''

He was drafted out of college by the Kansas City Chiefs and moved from team to team without playing a game until he hit Tampa, where he played two games before blowing out his knee.

''In Detroit, I made it to the final cuts, I was looking at a house and everything, and I came in one day and all the stuff is out of my locker,'' he recalled.

''I had a contract in Tampa, but I was on injured reserve,'' he added.

''Right place, right time, could I have made it in the NFL? Probably,'' he said. ``But I don't regret that time.''

Each time he didn't make a team, he came home to Miami, and headed to the UM weight room to stay in shape. That's where he met his wife -- though only 5-foot-5, Colleen played basketball for UM.

''She may not be tall, but she can shoot your lights out,'' he said.

When Heffernan gave up on a career in football, he came back to Miami again. Using his communications degree to get internships with Channel 7 and Channel 4, Heffernan tested the journalism waters and decided it wasn't for him.

So he went back to UM, this time for law school, which he was surprised to find he loved. He was named his class's top litigator.

''I was drawn to litigation because it was the closest thing to athletics I could find,'' he said. ''To be successful, it's all in the preparation. The trial is the end game, but you have to scout your opponent, do your research, prepare your strategy.'' Since law school, he figures he has taken 20 or so cases to a trial.

''I've always gotten verdicts,'' he said. ``Some better than others.''

He still competes out of court, though bicycling and triathlons have replaced the gridiron for him.

The year he finished law school, he and Colleen were married.

''I figured it was for real because she still hung onto me after I washed out of the NFL,'' he said, laughing.

They have three children, 16-year-old Tommy, 14-year-old Samantha and 10-year-old Sean. Not surprisingly, the Heffernans are raising athletic kids. Photos of them playing a variety of sports are sprinkled over his desk and around the office.

''Sports has been an integral part of my life,'' he said. ``It translates into so much, skills to carry off the field.''

Heffernan also coaches a Pop Warner football team.

''We live right over by Coral Reef Park,'' he said. ``To me, all is right in the world when I walk into that park and all the leagues are playing.''

Though he is a partner in his law firm, Abadin, Jaramillo, Cook and Heffernan, he sees his kids as his greatest achievement so far. He's visibly proud of Tommy, who's now playing at Heffernan's alma mater, Columbus. Samantha recently joined her father bicycling on a 41-mile ride through the Everglades. And Sean plays baseball and football and loves the risks of skateboarding, Dad jokes.

''I made it eight days into 2008 before I had to call the orthopedist,'' he said. ''I've got two on speed dial.'' This time it was for Sean, who broke his elbow skateboarding.

In what little spare time he has from the law and the family, Heffernan volunteers as chairman of the board of the South Dade YMCA. He's hoping to raise money for a new center, with a pool, because he worries about the number of Florida children who drown each year.

Nearly 30 years later, Heffernan is still a little amazed by his Silver Knight award.

''When I read each year about the kids who won, I'm humbled,'' he said. 'I keep thinking they're gonna call and say, `We're taking yours back' because it's amazing what these kids do today.''